Filed under: KingsBridge Train | Tags: cyclo-cross, Mark Cavendish, vicki thomas, world championships
Vicki here with a few words of thanks and a weekend riding recap….
Yes, okay, I’m ripping my blog title off of Mark Cavendish’s book Boy Racer… Sorry, sometime a girl has to dig deep to find a title and as I have an affinity for Mr. Cavendish’s book, I thought I’d honor him with my title. If the Manx Missile is reading this blog, lets hope he posts up in the comments… Come on Mark – we know that you have lots of down time right now – you’re only in the last week of the biggest race in France… Alright, I suppose I can dream that the likes of Mark Cavendish would read this site… Now on to the real meat of this post.
Really all I have to say is: thanks! Thanks for the support. Thanks for the emails. Thanks for the Twitter messages. Thanks for the Facebook messages. Thanks for the blog comments. All of these seemingly small things add up and give me a great feeling. The encouragement, the words of wisdom, the understanding – it keeps me coming back for more and wanting to do my best.
This might sound a bit lame but it is true. I’m in a funny spot as a bike racer – I don’t race with a team. I train primarily alone. I really have only myself to look to for motivation when things are feeling a bit tough. But thanks to your constant support, I know that there are people out there who are very similar to my teammates – encouraging me when I need it, giving me a kick in the butt when I need it, and simply just being a presence through the good and the bad.
Speaking of good – I had a fantastic weekend of training. Saturday saw me up bright and early and out the door by 6 a.m. so I could get my intervals in and ride to the Gatineau Park to hook up with Skip so we could ride out to watch the OBC Grand Prix. It was an excellent morning of riding, chatting, handing up bottles, catching up with friends, cheering on Marc and the Scott Boys, watching the Stevens girls rip up the field, and seeing young Timothy cross the line with a big grin on his face. All in all a great day to be a bike racer in Ottawa. Sunday was equally fine. Marc and Shaun convinced me to come out on the Scott team ride. I was a bit hesitant as I didn’t want to slow them down – but luckily they all had six laps of the Gatineau Park in their legs! What a great ride – my first time doing the MacGregor Lake loop. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The conversation was good, the pace was perfect (just enough to push me out of my comfort zone) and the time whipped by. Thanks guys for a great ride!
So an excellent weekend of riding, friends, cheering and simply having fun on bikes. Life really doesn’t get any sweeter.
Looking forward to the ‘cross season starting. My race schedule is looking pretty good with lots of variety of races in it and of course with the big one in January in St. Wendel, Germany.
Now, I best be off and go finish Mr. Cavendish’s book. It is a great read. In fact I channeled my inner-Manx Missile on Sunday during the ride with Scott Boys. I thought about what Mark goes through to make it through the mountains so he can unleash his sprint at the end… This actually did help me focus on the wheel in front of me and to get up and over some of the hills on Sunday. So thanks Mark – you are doing for me what I hope I’m doing for others!
Filed under: KingsBridge Train | Tags: cyclo-cross, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, vicki thomas, world championships
Hi, it’s Vicki checking in with a blog post about my training for the upcoming cyclo-cross season and a big shout out to my sponsors. Thanks for reading…
It is mid-July and I’m starting to feel the rewards of the long hours and efforts in my legs, lungs, heart, and soul. The early summer months were spent doing more riding than I’ve ever done before – lots of long rides, lots of intensity, lots of time with just me, my bike, and my iPod. Focus was on cadence – getting my legs ticking over at a speedy rate, spending lots of time in my tempo zone building and pushing forward, lots of long steady rides that built up physical and mental endurance.
Now it is time to switch gears a bit and focus on race preparation. This means I’m still doing long rides but the intensity has been notched up and changed focus a bit. Cyclo-cross is all about accelerating, maintaining speed, and keeping this speed for the 40 minutes of technical and flowy riding. Throw in some barriers, stairs, sand, mud, tricky descents and you have one of the best ways to spend time on a bike. To get ready for this assault on the senses, I’m working on start intervals, accelerations, threshold work, long rides, and technical skill rides. I’ll start doing some criteriums and road races to get some race intensity into my legs and to continue to build up my mental confidence.
This is a great place to be. The summer so far has had its share and ups and downs with some injuries and health issues. But I’m not letting this get me down. As I’ve written before – “everyone has something”. I have learned to handle my “something” and not let it beat me. I’ve also learned that rest, recovery, sleep and proper nutrition are extremely important. It really doesn’t matter if you do the training if you don’t let your body recover and fuel it sufficiently. I’d have to say that so far this season of training has been a massive success – I’ve learned so much about what I can handle physically and mentally. I feel like a different athlete.
Everything is coming together off the bike as well. I’m pretty happy to announce my sponsors for the upcoming cyclo-cross season. Without the support of these companies, I really wouldn’t be able to chase my cyclo-cross goals and live the dream. Thanks to the following outstanding companies for their support:
KingsBridge Disaster Recovery
Stevens Bikes
The Cyclery
Outdoor Gear Canada
Clif Bar
Bell Lap Coaching
Oakley
Filed under: KingsBridge Train | Tags: cyclo-cross, stevens super prestige, tabor, vicki thomas, world championships
Vicki here to tell you about my morning at the “office”…
Today the training schedule called for 60 minutes of recovery. So like any other eager cyclo-cross racer, I rolled over to my local park with my barrier and flags. Nothing like playing in the park on a Friday morning to put a smile on my face. This little park is a decent place to work on skills – it has a slight incline/hill for setting up the flags and thanks to the soccer field there is room along the side to set up my barrier.
The focus of this session was “back to basics”. Really break down the dismount and mount technique and focus on fully turning the front wheel while traversing the flags. I also gave myself mental cues to focus on keeping my eyes up and maintaining steady pedal pressure going into, during and out of the turns. “Keep pedaling” and “Eyes up” were ever constant in my brain.
I started the session with a “riding the lines” drill. Basically I ride the white lines on the soccer field and focus on making fast turns at line intersections – all the while remembering to look up, to keep steady pedal pressure and to play around with how far I can push the tires, bike lean, and body lean. After this it is time for dismounts and mounts. To warm-up I don’t use the barrier – rather I cruise along the field slowly and focus simply on dismounting properly and then focusing on a smooth mount – there is no running, no lifting of the bike, or heavy breathing.
I find doing these warm-up drills get my body and brain focused on the motions of cyclo-cross and really gets me ready for the faster paced barriers and tighter turning drills. Next it was time for dismount and mount practice with the barrier. I start these drills at a slow pace, gradually building to a faster speed – if I find myself making sloppy mistakes (such as missing the pedal, stutter stepping, etc.), I slow down again and focus on clean smooth technique. One of my goals today was to focus on getting back on the bike quickly, I have a tendency to take to many steps after the barrier.
Next up was turning – thanks to the little slope, I was able to set up my flags to allow me to practice turning uphill and downhill. This works a number of skills at once – keeping the eyes up, constant pedal pressure, really using the upper body to turn the bike, fully turning the front wheel, getting used to letting the bike “fall” down the hill, using only the back brake, and also working on braking, pedaling and turning all together.
Final phase of the session was connecting the barrier and the flags. Ride through the flags up the slope, turn and descend through the flags, thenattack the barrier, pedal a bit, turn around and attack the barrier again, and then back to the flags. I just keep repeating this little drill – I get two barrier sessions and lots of turning in with each “repeat”.
To cool down, back to the soccer field – riding the lines and some slow and easy dismounts and mounts.
There you have it! This is how I spent my morning training session. Because today is a recovery day, I did not do any of these drills at full speed – rather I focused on technique and being smooth. The mantra of “go slow to go fast” definitely holds true when working on cyclo-cross skills.
This morning I was riding the Stevens Super Prestige I raced on at the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. This message on my stem brought back some excellent feelings:
Filed under: KingsBridge Train | Tags: cyclo-cross, vicki thomas, world championships, ulcerative colitis, Specific Carbohydrate Diet
It’s Vicki here with another blog post on my cyclo-cross racing life…
Mmm, I love baked goods. Nothing quite like a squishy gooey cinnamon bun or a rice tart from my fave Belgian bakery. But sadly, I’m not talking about such soothing baked goods. Nope rather baked goods refers to how I felt out on my ride today. My plan was to “beat the heat”… Ya right!
Lets just say the “heat beat me”… I had an innocent 75 minutes on the plan today some endurance to warm-up the legs and then tempo intervals to shake things up and get the blood flowing. No problem. I had two full water bottles with a bit of apple juice in them and I was ready to go. Hit the road just after 9:30. Perfect – still not too hot and a slight breeze to keep me cool.
Ha! Well, the first hour or so was spot on. Great ride. Legs were ticking over smoothly and I liked the numbers I was seeing. And then the it happened. Almost as soon as I finished my last interval – the goosebumps came on. The hair on my arms was standing straight up, my legs were covered in goosebumps and I felt cold. Uh oh.
Not sure if it was a bonk or heatstroke or a combination of the both. Whatever it was, it resulted in a death ride home. What normally takes me 30 minutes or so took close to an hour. It was all I could do to turn the pedals over. I stopped worrying about power, cadence and speed. My focus was getting home. I had about 3/4 of a bottle left at this point. I stopped at a couple of businesses in hopes of filling up my bottles but strangely there was no one around.
So mind over matter and just focus on getting home. My mind was beginning to wander from listening to my podcasts to food. A sure sign that things have gone badly. Funny how appetizing a recovery drink seems when you’re out baking on a hot road far from home! Luckily as I rolled into town, I came across a couple just getting out of their car – they kindly filled my bottles with ice cold water (thank-you). I rolled home very happy to be returning to air conditioning. And no, I haven’t been outside since!
I’m sure this bonk/heatstroke incident was induced by my dietary changes over the past few days. As you know I’m following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and in the first week of the diet, carbohydrates are strictly limited. Today I was able to add bananas to my diet – but there aren’t a lot of carbohydrates in bananas. Still the dietary changes are making a big difference in my ulcerative colitis symptoms and I’m feeling much better than I have in a long time. It will take a bit of time and research to tweak the diet to make it work for cyclo-cross training and racing, but I know it can be done. I’m currently reading The Paleo Diet For Athletes – very interesting read and follows many of the same principles as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.
All this to say – it is hot out there! Make sure you take more liquid than you think you need on your ride (normally I wouldn’t need two bottles for 75 minutes…) and bring some food in case the dreaded bonk/heatstroke sets in. This heat is nice but really, I’d take some rain right about now! Tomorrow is a recovery day for me so I’m off to play in the woods on my cyclo-cross bike and then to the park for some skills and drills. Good sensations all around.
Filed under: KingsBridge Train | Tags: business, business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, business impact analysis, Continuity of Operations, COOP, cyclo-cross, disaster preparation, disaster recovery software, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, Phoenix software, plus 3 networks, tabor, vicki thomas, world championships
For the past three years, KingsBridge has sponsored an Ottawa bike racer. Vicki is a cyclo-cross racer and this past season; she represented Canada and raced at the 2010 World Cyclo-Cross Championships in Tabor, Czech Republic. Some of you were fortunate enough to have met Vicki in our DRJ Spring World booth in Orlando, the rest of you will have to wait until the DRJ Fall World to meet her. Vicki has a website where she writes daily about her training, racing, and life as a bike racer. We thought you’d enjoy reading about her life and seeing the other side of KingsBridge. So in the next few days you will start to see Vicki’s Ottawa Cross blog posts appearing on the KingsBridge blog. But before this happens, we thought you should hear from Vicki herself and let her introduce herself… So without further adieu, here is Vicki….
Wow – with an introduction like that, I’m not really sure where to start! But here goes… Well, as you read, for the past three years, I’ve been very fortunate to be sponsored by KingsBridge. The support that Skip and his staff provide is truly overwhelming – thanks to these guys I’m able to travel to Belgium for the winter months and live like a professional bike racer.
Now, you might be sitting there wondering “what is cyclo-cross”. Cyclo-cross is one of the most difficult forms of bicycle racing. It is a winter sport, with the season starting in late September and ending in mid-February. Woodland trails, open meadows, mud, and short, steep hills are the main features of a cyclo-cross course. Normally the circuit is 2.5-3 km in length, and the race duration is around 40 minutes. Cyclo-cross is also the most popular discipline of bicycle racing in North America. The United States championships are held over four days to accommodate racers and fans. In Europe, spectators arrive upwards of four hours early and will pay 20 dollars to watch the race.
So, this is what I do. I race my bike in the cold winter months through mud, sand, rain, snow, and ice. And I love it! There is nothing quite like a cyclo-cross race. The races are short at 40 minutes so every minute is pretty darn action-packed. Throw in 20,000 spectators at a typical race in Europe and you’ve got a very exciting atmosphere.
I’m based in Belgium from November to February where I focus solely on racing and training for cyclo-cross. Being in Belgium allows me to compete on the European elite circuit and the World Cup circuit. My goal this season is to once again represent Canada at the 2011 World Cyclo-Cross Championships in St. Wendel, Germany. To get there I spend a lot of time out riding my road bike (to get in base miles and fitness), my mountain bike (to work on technical skills), and my cyclo-cross bike (to work on cyclo-cross specific skills).
To keep my sponsors, fans, and family up-to-date, I created Ottawa Cross as a way to let everyone know what is going on. During the off-season, I typically write about my training, goals for the year, and general musings on the bike racer life. During the race season, I write race reports, updates on training and recovering, and pretty much anything else that is going on. I try to be honest as possible on my website – I don’t believe in sugar-coating things. If things are going great – then you’ll know about it. If things are going not-so-great – then you’ll know about it!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading about my bike racing life. Enjoy the ride and please don’t be shy to comment on my blog posts – I love getting feedback and finding out who is reading.
Filed under: Knowledge | Tags: business, business continuity, business continuity software, business disaster, Continuity of Operations, COOP, cyclo-cross, disaster preparation, disaster recovery, disaster recovery software, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, plus 3 networks, vicki thomas, world championships
I always find it inspiring to see a long line of cyclist rolling along like an outstretched human train, everyone is wearing matching jersey and shorts working together to a common goal. If you’ve ever watched the Tour de France then you will certainly understand this amazing group of people working towards a sight. This is a sight that has become common at KingsBridge, minus the Tour de France part of course! Everyone working towards a common goal.
Before joining KingsBridge I often dealt with Skip Williams (CEO) as he frequently visited the bicycle store that I managed during my university days, as it was just around the corner from their office. He would often drop in mid-ride in full KingsBridge cycling gear, matching head to toe. I found it very interesting that a Disaster Recovery software and consulting company would have such a passion in cycling. One day Skip dropped by the shop and gave me a KingsBridge cycling jersey, unknown to me, the first of many to come. It was my first step into the KingsBridge train.
Now having been with KingsBridge for almost a year, I’ve discovered that Skip and KingsBridge are committed to their employees, clients and sports (not just cycling). KingsBridge sponsors; the Ultimate Frisbee team of our IT manager, the Touch football team that I play on and KingsBridge cycling jerseys to local (both Road and Mountain) bikers. In addition to sponsoring employee related teams, KingsBridge is also giving back to clients by working to raise money for the Nevada Cancer Institute. Each mile ridden, run, skied or hiked goes to raising money for cancer research. The culmination of this years KingsBridge sporting sponsorship just recently took place as Vicki Thomas, our sponsored Cyclo-cross rider. Vicki raced in the World Cyclo-cross championship in the Czech Republic. It was great to see a KingsBridge sponsored racer at a world caliber event! One of our very own on a world stage… very cool! As each day goes by and the KingsBridge train gains more momentum and more members!
In the coming months, we will have a section on our website dedicated to the KingsBridge train, everyone working towards a common goal and in complete unison. 2010 is going to be a great year and I will certainly keep you posted of new developments and when the train is leaving the station, hop on board and learn about how your goals can be reached when everyone works together!
Steve Rogers
KingsBridge Disaster Recovery
KingsBridge is a Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity company specializing in Software, Seminars and Consulting. If you are looking for a Microsoft Office integrated recovery planning tool, Phoenix is not only an excellent tool, but the only completely integrated planning tool. Our seminars (online and in-house) are some of the longest running seminars in the recovery business. KingsBridge uses turn-key consulting for those who need the plan done, right the first time. For more information about KingsBridge, checkout www.disasterrecovery.com
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: canada, cyclo-cross, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery, tabor, uci, vicki thomas, world championships
Over the past couple of years, KingsBridge Disaster Recovery has sponsored one of our contractors in their dream of racing on a world level. We are very proud to congratulate Vicki in reaching her 2009 goal of racing at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships!
To get an idea of what Vicki has been up to over the past months, check out her blog at www.ottawa.cx! It really is an amazing story of someone setting a goal and doing absolutely everything possible to reach that goal. From weekend flights to Italy to spending the entire winter in Belgium, Vicki has made the commitment I am sure every one of us wishes we could!
Her race in Tabor, Czech Republic (photos posted here) this past weekend was the culmination of her efforts in 2009 (and early 2010), but she has already set her goals for next year and we look forward to sharing them with Vicki throughout the year!
If you get a chance, drop her a comment on her blog to say hello or give her encouragement (not that she needs much) to continue to chase her dreams and push her limits next year. We are still working out the details, but if you attend the Disaster Recovery Journal’s Spring World in Orlando, you might just get to meet her and wish her luck in person!
Thanks for the great year Vicki and we look forward to cheering you on again next season (and hopefully keeping up with you on our group rides)!
Sincerely,
Skip Williams
KingsBridge Disaster Recovery
